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The new guy

I'm new at this. I'm trying my best to memorize the names of plants, substrate, rocks, treatments, etc.

I've read a lot, spoken to a bunch of "experts", but I honestly believe that the internet community would have more to offer. That's why I signed up here.

I have a 10 gallon aquarium, heater and filter. This is your standard beginners bundle. I have the option of using regular lights or halogen lights.

I have black lava rocks at the bottom, a variety of rocks, and I just purchased driftwood and attached plants (one is called crypt parva but I forget the name of the other) to it with fish wire. I've added the recommended amount of plant fertilizer and I plan on leaving the tank for a week before adding any more plants or fish.

I have a general idea of what I would like to accomplish in this tank, but I want to know what you have to say, be it advice, warnings or "please stop before you murder the fish".

I like the idea of color and variety in the tank. For that reason, I would like to see if I could do the following organisms in this tank:

Welcome! and good for you to do research prior to purchasing the fish.
You've saved yourself some headache there.

10gal tanks are rough to stock due to their size.

but question:
with your beta tank right now. does it have a heater/filter?

If not-then lets use the 10gallon for the beta and stock around that fella.
Because the beta is a tropical fish and needs that. (and pending what others say, I personally think they need way way more than 1.5gallons)-like 10gallons at the minimum.

This is a good suggestion, although you have to be very careful when keeping bettas with other fish -- and not just because of the betta's temperament. I had a very docile betta and I tried to house him with neons. My school of neons shredded his tail. Those long, colourful fins are extremely tempting to many fish.

Thank you!

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Thank you for your replies!

I like the idea of my betta (he's a tiny lil guy, curious but doesn't seem aggressive), 6 neon tetras and some cherry shrimp. Lots of color and they'd all stand out nicely with the black gravel and lots of green I plan on putting in. I'll make sure there is enough cover in the form of plants for my beta to hide if he's not a fan of the tetras or vice versa.

I only have one more question - with my five plants already in the tank, can I still do a fast cycle with ammonia?